After the lucrative takeover of the club by the Abu Dhabi United Group last summer hopes were high for this season.

And despite Hughes only managing to lead his side to mid-table in the Barclays Premier League, Cook maintains the Welshman is the right manager to take City forward.

"Mark had an appraisal of his performance for the year, like any employee," Cook told The Times.

"We didn't fill in forms, but we talked about challenges. When you go through that process of review, names come up, but that is only ever done internally. There was no need to take that process externally because we have a manager in place that we're very happy with.

"We have never talked to Jose Mourinho or anyone else. The only manager we have spoken to is Mark Hughes."

Last summer's marquee signing was Robinho from Real Madrid while City just fell short in a bid to sign AC Milan superstar Kaka in January.

City fans will expect similar names to be targeted this summer but Cook insists the recruitment process will be initiated by Hughes.

"There are budgets," he said. "People talk about a list like it's the back of a fag-packet and some names. We have thick files on each individual.

"It's a rigorous process and it always starts with Mark. It's not us saying, 'Hey, Mark, we've got a great guy who would be great at Disney. Fit him in.'

"We might look to sign people who can lift the profile of the club, but only if they have the ability and the character to fit into Mark's structure."